The choice of Bosco Verticale as winner of the prestigious International Highrise Award 2014, “was a matter of the heartâ€. This is the declaration of a member of the multidisciplinary jury which assesses the world’s most interesting architectural projects, paying particular attention to design, the capacity to fit in with the surrounding environment and innovation.
The Highrise Award, issued every two years, is organised by Deutsches Architekturmuseum, DekaBank and the city of Frankfurt. This year, 800 projects were selected, with 26 finalists and a final line-up of 5 projects, among which the sustainable spirit of the Italian winner, Bosco Verticale, stood out.
Bosco Verticale is one of the landmarks of Porta Nuova, the large area undergoing transformation in the historical Milanese districts of Garibaldi, Varesine and Isola.
Designed by Boeri Studio (now Stefano Boeri Architetti and Barreca & La Varra), Bosco Verticale consists of two residential towers, standing 110 and 76 metres tall, which want to be an example of densification of plants and nature above the city, in a metropolitan area characterised by a high intensity of traffic.
The façades of the buildings are made up of terraces which house over 3,000 trees, plants and shrubs, with over 100 different species, equalling 10,000 square metres of forest.
The use of vegetation, besides restoring close contact with nature, also performs important functions in line with the ecological spirit of the project. It allows the reduction of differences in temperature, produces humidity and oxygen, absorbs CO2 and particulates, reduces noise pollution and improves interior climatic comfort.
A particularly fascinating aspect is that this green wrapping of trees and plants will change with the changing of the season and will be taken care of using antagonist insects like ladybirds.
Bosco Verticale is part of the Porta Nuova Project, an urban and architectural renovation project in an area between Porta Garibaldi Station and the Central Station, which has divided Milan in two parts for a long time. The Porta Nuova project not only reunites the two areas of Milan, it also intends to create a new way of life, a new centre, a new destination as an oasis within the city, far away from traffic, where the new comes into contact with rich, lively history of the district and of the whole city of Milan.
Milan is a city under transformation and it is staging a new idea of modernity, leading the way in Europe and the world. This Milan is the city to see and to live; the ideal place for your choices for life, education and intellectual growth.
